Greyhound Watercolor: Was that a Leash Jingle?

This watercolor is the 6th in a series [see the line up on my studio table below] of vertical format studies on leftover watercolor paper (Fabriano Artistico 300lb). My stack of yet-to-be-painted paper in this size is generous; it was given to me by Nancy Eckels, my groovy artist friend and sister-in-tallness. We met a little over a decade ago because people thought we were sisters, or each other. Someone came up to me at a local artist association meeting and said "Hi Nancy". I explained that I wasn't Nancy, and was told emphatically that I *had* to meet her, because we're both artists, and we're both tall. It happened again in an airport a few months later, only that time, I didn't have the heart to tell the person - who was rambling on and on about paintings and art and galleries - that I wasn't Nancy. When we finally met, we became fast friends. She taught me how to do an outdoor Art Festival by taking me to one of her shows in Nevada as a roadie. [I remember thinking 'Wow, this is a lot of work!'] Not only is she a great artist, with a heart of gold - she's also a very generous soul; when she cuts paper down to fit the format she's painting her beautiful abstracts in, she brings me bags or paper "scraps" [see the photo of my loot, and paper cutter below]. Since I usually work small, they are perfect for these little studies. Now that I think about it, maybe the tall format of this series of watercolors is an unconscious nod of thanks to the tall artist who gave them to me. :)Thanks, Nancy. xoxo

If they could talk: early morning chit-chat in the studio

My friend Nancy Eckels at an art festival, next to some of her beautiful [tall] art.

Paper cutter and stacks of watercolor scraps, ready to become paintings.

Art Quote

"The only thing noble about my parents," once said Rosa Bonheur, "was their character, which is more than many so-called aristocrats can boast." The genealogical table of the Bonheur family shows that for three generations the ancestors of Rosa were cooks - cooks, of course, who practised their calling with the skill and devotion that made it an art, but still no more than cooks. However, the father, Raymond Bonheur, was an artist in painting. Although three of his ancestors were but cooks, twelve of his fourteen lineal descendants were painters, sculptors, composers, and architects. Among these was his daughter Rosa, the most famous of his five children, and the most famous of the women painters of the nineteenth century.

Rosa was born in Bordeaux, France, March 22, 1822. Upon the death of his wife, when Rosa was seven years old, the father moved to Paris, where he hoped to win that success which is the dream of every artist. He never became great, but the little girl who loved to watch her father at his work, and who liked still more to take rambles with him through the woods and country fields, early achieved that fame and prosperity which the father never acquired.

When Rosa decided to become a painter, she spent four years copying the masters in the Louvre before she concluded that her life work would be the painting of animals. She loved nature and had a passion for animated nature. In later years when she lived in the Rue d'Assas she owned and kept near her - one horse, one he-goat, one otter, seven lapwings, two hoopoes, one monkey, one sheep, one donkey, and two dogs.

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